Brussels, 31/10/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European sea patrol operation to combat illegal immigration in the central Mediterranean, code named “NAUTILUS” has been successful, said a highly placed official of FRONTEX, the European Agency for the management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders. “I am very satisfied with the successful course of this operation. It was a pilot project and I am very happy that despite the partly unfavourable weather conditions, understandable for the season, it could be carried out according to the schedule. From the coordination point of view, the operation went very smoothly and it was a good example of the effectiveness of our joint efforts,” said Ilkka Laitinen, the Executive Director of FRONTEX in a press release. The lessons learned will be taken into account in future operations. Over the fifteen days of the operation, five Member States (Malta, Greece, France, Germany and Italy) joined forces and equipment (5 vessels, 3 planes and 2 helicopters) between Sicily and Libya to prevent illegal immigrants from landing in Italy and on Malta. Mr Laitinen noted, too, that no immigrants were able to land on Malta during the entire operation. The operation, with a budget of €1.2 million, lasted from 3 to 17 October, 24 hours per day, and was coordinated from the command centre in Lampedusa, Italy. Two factors, however, which helped make “NAUTILUS” a success have to be taken into account: its short duration and the fact that it took place outside the summer immigration peak time. A FRONTEX spokesman said that whether or not similar patrols were put in place before next summer “depends first and foremost on the migratory situation, and also on the will of Member States who alone can decide if they want to use only their own national patrols”. In the light of the urgency of the immigration situation, on 26 October, Parliament proposed to increase the funding allocated to FRONTEX (€12.8 million in commitment appropriations, taking the total to €24 million). It should also be noted that Libya did not wish to take part in joint patrols, or give FRONTEX permission to sail in its territorial waters, negotiations having recently failed (see EUROPE 9264). The Commission, however, has not given up hope that a cooperation agreement with Libya can be reached. “The Europe-Africa meeting (on 22-23 November) in Tripoli will be decisive in terms of regulating the illegal immigration problem. This meeting could see an agreement on strengthening cooperation between the EU, some Member States and Libya,” said a European source, warning, however, that “negotiations are never very easy with Libyan authorities”. The European maritime patrol operation being conducted at the moment off the Canary Islands (“Hera II”) has recently been extended to the end of December. At the start of October, the Commission announced that a similar type of operation would be launched in the eastern Mediterranean at the start of December, particularly to combat illegal immigration from Turkey. (bc)